PhD ML Research Intern – RL & Autonomous Driving

Waymo LLC; Mountain View (WY); Hybrid; USD 97,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

Waymo LLC is seeking a PhD‑level software engineer/researcher intern to advance RL post‑training and generative world modeling for autonomous driving. You will develop scalable techniques and collaborate with cross‑functional teams on perception, world modeling, and simulation.

The role demands strong Python/JAX/PyTorch skills and a track record in RL or generative modeling, preferably with top venues or industry projects. Hybrid onsite internship with rolling applications.

Qualifications

• PhD student in CS with expected graduation between Dec 2027 and Aug 2028 (returning to degree program).
• Strong tensor implementation and debugging skills in Python and JAX/Flax or PyTorch, with hands-on experience training/ modifying modern neural architectures.
• Deep research expertise in RL post-training or generative world/trajectory modeling, with familiarity in the other area.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and scale RL post-training and distillation algorithms for foundation world models in simulation and autonomous driving.
• Develop learned reward models, realism critics, and discriminators within a closed-loop multi-agent simulator to align behaviors with realism and safety.
• Run closed-loop ablation studies on large TPU clusters using agentic workflows and driving metrics to mitigate simulator distribution shift.
• Write clean, modular, and well-tested JAX code in core simulation and autonomous driving codebases, collaborating with researchers and engineers.

Skills

Python

JAX/Flax

PyTorch

Education

PhD student in Computer Science

Tools

JAX/Flax tools

PyTorch

Job description

Waymo LLC is seeking a PhD‑level software engineer/researcher intern to advance RL post‑training and generative world modeling for autonomous driving. You will develop scalable techniques and collaborate with cross‑functional teams on perception, world modeling, and simulation.

The role demands strong Python/JAX/PyTorch skills and a track record in RL or generative modeling, preferably with top venues or industry projects. Hybrid onsite internship with rolling applications.